JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Kroger grocery delivery center is making its way to Jacksonville. Soon, you’ll be able to order online and have it at your door the next day.
“It could be really useful because some people don’t like shopping; some people rather stay at home,” Lonnie Samuels said.
Samuels lives in the New Town area and said, until he got a car, he’d deal with the struggle of walking or riding his bike to get groceries.
“I had a big book bag with lots of space. But when you have a family, you got to do what you got to do,” he said.
In an emailed response to Action News Jax, a Kroger spokesperson said the delivery system will be for next-day service, charging a fee of $9.95.
Kroger stated the new service will also bring 60 jobs to Jacksonville and will operate out of Imeson Park Boulevard, which has a listed ZIP code of 32218.
According to a city report from 2019, that’s considered a food desert.
A news release from Kroger quoted Mayor Lenny Curry, who said “Every citizen in Jacksonville should have access to affordable, healthy and fresh foods.”
With many areas in Jacksonville being miles away from a grocery store, Kroger stated its plan is to target, “all communities, including those that may have pockets of food deserts,” and help them benefit from being able to order fresh, healthy food at an affordable price conveniently delivered to their home.”
Kroger confirmed its delivery is an e-commerce delivery service that combines vertical integration, machine learning and robotics with affordable, friendly and fast delivery of grocery items and fresh food.
Samuels mentioned it sounded like DoorDash and said the extra fee might not be a problem.
“It might be expensive because it’s Kroger, but it depends on what you buy and what you get,” Samuels said.
Action News Jax asked the city if there were any tax incentives for Kroger but was told there were none.
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